Former Israeli PM Acquitted; Wants Right-Wing US Jews Probed

Ehud Olmert found guilty on one of three charges

The associates of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on
Wednesday that right-wing
American Jews should be
investigated for their role in his 2008 impeachment, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The
former PM was indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust, false entries in
corporate documents and acquisition through fraudulent means in cases popularly
known as the Rishon Tours double-billing affair, the Talansky affair and the
Investments Centre affair.

The
proceedings involved 152 court sessions over two years, producing 4,000 pages
of testimony.

But on
Tuesday, Olmert was found not guilty on the majority of the corruption charges
he was facing as the Jerusalem District Court exonerated the former Israeli
leader in a 700-page ruling.

“We are not looking for conspiracy theories
but we want answers to facts,” said a source close to Olmert. “Certain people became part of the political
game and brought about investigations, which led to his resignation. You have
to ask yourself whether these things should be investigated.”

Olmert was convicted of breach of trust in
the Investment Center case, considered the least serious of the charges he
faced, and will be sentenced in September, according to court documents.

The case dealt with a conflict of interest,
in which Olmert gave favorable treatment to companies run by a former business
partner in an investment deal during his time in office as Minister of
Industry, Trade and Labour. Olmert was alleged to have influenced some
decisions made by his ministry in their favour when he held the position
between 2003 and 2006.

Olmert’s lawyer, Eli Zohar, said he would
not appeal the conviction, which makes Olmert the first prime minister in
Israel to be convicted of breach of public trust. It is possible that he will
be jailed for the conviction.

“I would like to remind you all that the
court said that there was procedural impropriety in this case – not fraud and
not corruption,” said the former PM outside the court. “As for the
ramifications of this indictment – there are lessons to be learned here, and
personal responsibility to be assumed by some. I leave that up to them.”

The other
two allegations Olmert faced would have each carried a three-year mandatory
prison sentence had he been convicted.

But the
panel of three judges ruled unanimously that the evidence provided did not
prove beyond doubt that Olmert had acted with criminal intent.

The
testimony of Morris Talansky, an American businessman who told a court in May
2008 that he had given about $150,000 to Olmert over 13 years, mostly in cash
stuffed into envelopes, was instrumental in the former Kadima leader’s
downfall.

Talansky
claimed he had transferred the money to Olmert for his election campaigns and
personal expenses, an allegation Olmert repeatedly denied.

Talansky
testified that he had sent $25,000 to Olmert between 1992, when he first ran
for mayor of Jerusalem, and late 2005, meant for a vacation in Italy and almost
$5,000 to cover his bill at a hotel in Washington, D.C. because Olmert’s own
credit card was “maxed out.”

Talansky
noted that some of the money was meant as a lone but he was never repaid.

Following
his acquittal, Olmert maintained his innocence.

“There were
no envelopes of money and there are no envelopes of money,” he said. “It never
happened.”

Olmert was
also cleared of an allegation that while mayor of Jerusalem and later in the
cabinet, he billed multiple state and charitable agencies for identical travel
expenses and used the extra money for private family trips.

“After over
four years this case has finally come to its end. Four years ago, the media was
riddled with reports of 'cash envelopes' and illicit money. Well, today the
court found that there was no such thing,” Olmert told reporters outside the
court.

The ruling
“addresses the core of the indictment filed against me – and the court found me
not guilty. I never defrauded anyone, not one institution or charity. There was
no corruption… I do not intend to thank the court for this ruling. This was not
a personal matter of ‘good decision versus bad decision.’ The court ruled
according to the evidence, after four years and hundreds of meetings and
sifting through things. I do however, want to thank the court for maintaining
the dignity of the proceedings,” he stated.

Olmert
quoted former Prime Minister Menachem Begin who in the 1970s declared, “There
are judges in Jerusalem.”

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